Nonwoven fabrics are breathable and soft, and have wide applications in recent years. Various properties are required depending on the applications, and are required for further improvements.
The nonwoven fabrics used as sanitary materials in disposable diapers and sanitary napkins and as base cloths of poultices require high water resistance and moisture permeability. Elasticity and bulkiness are required depending on where the nonwoven fabrics are applied.
Elastic nonwoven fabrics may be produced by spunbonding thermoplastic elastomers (e.g., Patent Document 1), or by using mixed fibers including thermoplastic polyurethane fibers and thermoplastic polymer fibers (e.g., Patent Document 2). Although apart from elasticity, nonwoven fabrics of continuous fibers including sticky fibers of hydrogenated styrene block copolymers and nonsticky fibers are proposed (e.g., Patent Document 3).
To achieve improved water resistance, spunbonded nonwoven fabrics and meltblown nonwoven fabrics are laminated (e.g., Patent Documents 4 and 5).
However, none has achieved sufficient elasticity, softness and processability, and improvements in these properties are desired.    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-H07-503502    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-2004-244791    [Patent Document 3] JP-A-2004-197291    [Patent Document 4] JP-A-H08-510798    [Patent Document 5] JP-A-2004-3096